Alperen Şengün produced his eighth double-double and helped the Houston Rockets fend off a fourth-quarter charge from the visiting Washington Wizards in a 107-92 victory on Monday.
Şengün paired 27 points with 17 rebounds to pace the Rockets, who overcame the absence of point guard Fred VanVleet (hamstring). Houston recorded only 13 assists, relying on transition opportunities and a dominant performance from Sengun in the paint to survive.
Kyle Kuzma scored eight points during an 11-4 Wizards run that opened the fourth and cut the deficit to 86-80. Following a Houston timeout, Şengün converted a dunk and a driving layup before nailing a 3-pointer to help the Rockets reclaim control and a double-digit lead at 93-80.
Jalen Green added 18 points for the Rockets. Amen Thompson added 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while Aaron Holiday and Jabari Smith Jr. tallied 11 points each.
Houston recorded 23 fast-break points and dominated the Wizards on the glass, finishing with a 58-34 rebounding advantage, with Smith chipping in nine boards and Tari Eason adding 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Kuzma led the Wizards, who have dropped five consecutive games, with 18 points. However, he needed 18 shots to reach that total, reflecting the poor shooting from the Wizards (35.5 percent). Jordan Poole missed 9 of 14 shots en route to 11 points, while Alexandre Sarr, the second overall pick in the NBA draft, shot 2 of 9 for five points.
Both the Rockets and Wizards quickly recovered from ragged starts.
In the first quarter, Washington got a combined 15 points from Carlton Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly to offset a balanced scoring attack from Houston, which got six points apiece from Smith, Şengün and Green. Washington shot %52.2 in the opening period but trailed 30-28 entering the second due partly to the Rockets’ aggressiveness, which yielded 10 free throws compared to four for the Wizards.
When the Rockets threatened to run away late in the second, Kuzma helped the Wizards fashion a response. Houston extended to its largest lead of the half at 55-40 on back-to-back steals and transition layups from Green and Eason. But Kuzma drilled a 3-pointer and converted a driving layup to pull Washington to within 57-49 at the intermission.
The Rockets shot 51.2 percent before the break despite recording only four assists.